The HF surface wave radar WERA. Part I: Statistical analysis of recorded data

Surface wave (SW) over-the-horizon (OTH) radars are not only widely used for ocean remote sensing, but they can also be exploited in integrated maritime surveillance systems. This paper represents the first part of the description of the statistical and spectral analysis performed on sea backscattered signals recorded by the oceanographic WEllen RAdar (WERA) system. Data were collected on May 13th 2008 in the Bay of Brest, France. The data statistical analysis, after beamforming, shows that for near range cells the signal amplitude fits well the Rayleigh distribution, while for far cells the data show a more pronounced heavy-tailed behavior. The causes can be traced in man-made (i.e. radio communications) and/or natural (i.e. reflections of the transmitted signal through the ionosphere layers, meteor trails) interferences.